Online project management tools enhance productivity and transparency. Project management can easily become chaotic and not very efficient whether you are part of a team or of an organization. If you were planning to enhance remote collaboration, an Intranet or document management system was so far a good choice. Online project management tools go beyond that and allow decentralized collaboration between co-workers, thus project planning and implementation get more transparent and productive.
The main idea of online project management tools is that all information of project activities is stored in one central place. These tools are all browser-based and require no further software installation. They can be accessed from anywhere via an Internet connection. They offer a collaborative working space for all kind of purposes, secured by a login. Often, they are a combination of calendars, to-do lists and document folders.
What do these tools offer?
The latest online project management platforms now offer user friendly interfaces. The latter aspect is fundamental for painless information sharing. Here is a list of the features on offer:
- Classical project management tools such as to-do lists and milestones meters with assignable responsibilities.
- Different roles and permissions to assign tasks and to grant different groups access to specific areas.
- A calendar to share events and keep updated on what is happening within a project including a history of what has been achieved.
- Document sharing folders and pages or notes to work together like on a wiki.
- Some offer time tracking to see how long one worked and on what.
- A forum or message board to discuss issues.
- A database for project contacts with addresses or other kinds of data repositories.
- A ticketing system, for example to include external feedback and to assign tasks.
- E-Mail notifications on events or latest activities.
How do these systems work?
Each project member gets his/her own account to access the project management interface. When logged in, users are usually offered a dashboard featuring the latest activities. For example, there could be a request for an answer, or one could have been assigned a new task.
The project management tools listed below offer some kind of flexibility for meeting specific teams’ needs.
For example, projects can have various sub projects with different memberships. An administrator or project head can create multiple projects and see in a dashboard project-specific progress. Features such as time tracking can be enabled or disabled. External sources can also be included such as an additional calendar or using emails to contribute information to the system.
What is the effect?
The main advantage is the decentralised approach to such a project management. All information is stored in one place and not scattered across different mailboxes. If members of the team work regularly and consistently with the system, a transparent project history will be created, where information can be retrieved rapidly and team work implemented more efficient. Ideally such a project management tool evolves organically according to the team culture and can save a lot of time for otherwise long meetings and conference calls.
What is the downside?
On obvious challenge in project management is a much needed discipline, particularly when using such decentralized tools. If members do not stick to the tool for collaborating on the project, they will loose the advantages offered by a central place where to input, access and update all project activities. For example, if communication shifts back to email exchanges, the history of exchanges will no longer be stored on the platform and transparency of the process will suffer. Another problem is the architecture of such platforms, which is not always flexible enough to accommodate different project purposes. Do not underestimate the efforts to train and convince colleagues to join such online collaborative spaces.
Where to find such services?
There exists a large variety of technical solutions ranging from free, own server installation, to monthly subscriptions to externally hosted platforms. The easiest way forward is to opt for outsourced solutions, where you can start right away, but have to shoulder some cost. There are countless services in this regard offered ; For ease of reference we mention 3 options:
- Basecamp: One of the most popular versions. One click start solution with a great interface, but limited flexibility. Basecamp is a hosted version with a monthly fee depending on needed space and projects.
- Active Collab: A self-hosted solution with all features of Basecamp and also a great interface. It can be hosted on an own server.
- Socialtext: A wiki-type of solution. It offers different channels of collaborations and is less fixed on classical project management approach and more adaptable. Socialtext is an externally hosted solution with varying prices depending on requirements.
Experimenting with demo versions is the best way forward to find out whether a tool meets your needs. For further information, Appfrica has a great comparison of different online project management tools.
Author: Christian Kreutz
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written by Jashandeep, November 28, 2011
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written by Jack, July 15, 2011
Agree with Dana and Drew. You have to all keep within the same pm system (Drew) and for this to work there already has to be tight team collaboration (Dana). We are using Dooster.net and it has improved revenue at the same time as decreasing time at work but this is because there is one owner of our organisation and they are adamant that we work through Dooster and this has really paid off for us despite temptation to email on a the different software apps you might be using from one hour to the next for research.
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written by Milana, May 20, 2011
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written by shelly, May 27, 2010
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written by Lucie, April 07, 2010
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written by Drew, March 03, 2010
I think you nailed it exactly with your comment for the downside being discipline. Project management tools are great, but you have to get everyone on board and using it in order for it to actually make a difference.
For our tool, we've found by sending out email notifications (that can be turned off) for anything that is added, changed, etc. that it constantly keeps the users or those team members involved with the task or project, aware of items that are being entered into the system. It's similar to top of mind marketing, but in this case, top of mind project management
Drew
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written by Dana, February 18, 2010
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